The Holiday Fire in 2020 near Eugene burned more than 173,000 acres and was one of the largest wildfires in Oregon history. The Oregon Department of Forestry is still waiting on the U.S. Forest Service to finish its part of investigating any responsible parties in the wildfire so both agencies can pursue any rightful reimbursement for the costs of putting it out. (U.S. Forest Service)
Each year, the Oregon Department of Forestry responds to about 1,000 wildfires across the 16 million acres of land it protects. It investigates the cause of every fire, and if a person or group is found to have been negligent or malicious in starting or spreading a significant fire, the agency pursues reimbursement for its firefighting costs.
The agency has not been very successful in recouping those costs, according to a report discussed at a March meeting of the four-member Emergency Fire Cost Committee.
The account offered a rare glimpse into the scale of the costs and the efforts to recover them. But it only represented a snapshot of the problem, excluding a full list of all the fires the state is investigating or pursuing for reimbursement, Jessica Neujahr, a forestry spokesperson, said in an email.